U.S. soldier who killed servicemen in Iraq gets life in prison

A U.S. Army sergeant on Thursday was sentenced to life in prison without parole for killing five fellow servicemen in a shooting spree in Iraq that was one of the worst instances of violence by an American soldier against other American troops.

In a deal that spared him the death penalty, Sergeant John Russell pleaded guilty last month to killing two medical staff officers and three soldiers at the Camp Liberty combat stress clinic, near Baghdad's airport.

The military has said the 2009 shooting might have been triggered by combat stress.

Russell faced an abbreviated court-martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state to determine the level of his guilt, and the military judge in the case ruled on Monday that the 48-year-old Texan had killed with premeditation.

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At a brief early-morning hearing at the Pacific Northwest military base, the judge in the case, Army Colonel David Conn, said Russell was mentally ill at the time of the offenses but was nevertheless responsible his actions.

"You are not a monster," Conn said. "But you have knowingly and deliberately done incredibly monstrous things."

"Sergeant Russell, you have forced many to drink from a bitter cup. That cup is now before you," Conn said, before asking Russell, who wore green military dress, to stand.

He sentenced the 48-year-old Texas native to life in confinement without the possibility of parole, a reduction in rank and a dishonorable discharge from the Army.

Russell's state of mind before, during and after the attack has been central to legal proceedings over the past year.

Conn, in ruling that the killings were premeditated, ultimately sided with prosecutors, who said Russell tried to gain an early exit from the Army and then sought revenge on a mental health worker who would not help him achieve that goal.

An Army forensic science officer who analyzed the scene after the attack testified that Russell killed with the tactical precision of a trained soldier.

Defense attorneys countered that Russell's mental health had been severely weakened by several combat tours, and that he was suicidal prior to the attack and provoked to violence by maltreatment at the hands of healthcare workers whom he sought for help.

In the final hour, filled with suicidal despair and rage, they said, he cracked.

A forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Sadoff of the University of Pennsylvania, concluded that Russell suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosis at the time of the shootings and had death wishes related to his illnesses.

"My plan was to kill myself," Russell said during his plea hearing. "I wanted the pain to stop."